1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical device storage arrangements, inventory management methods and systems, and signal emitting members, such as radio frequency identification tags, systems, and the like. In particular, the present invention relates to an endoscope storage cabinet, a tracking method and system for use in connection with endoscopes and the like, and an improved signal emitting member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, in the health care industry, complex and expensive equipment and systems are utilized in the diagnosis and care process. As the development of this equipment and associated systems continues, the necessity to monitor and track the usage is of the utmost importance. Certain drawbacks and deficiencies exist in the prior art, including: (1) theft of the equipment or its components; (2) inaccurate manual compliance and tracking methods; (3) ineffective and inefficient compliance monitoring and similar management; (4) inefficient equipment sharing and distribution; (5) high repair costs; (6) difficulty in tracking; (7) inaccurate identification and tracking methods, etc.
Many medical devices, such as an endoscope, represent a highly complex and expensive medical instrument to purchase, maintain and repair. Unfortunately, equipment theft does occur, with some hospitals reporting the loss of 5-7 endoscopes, which, as stated, are extremely expensive to replace. According to the prior art, and especially in those procedures involving the use of an endoscope, compliance with hospital protocol is an entirely manual process, i.e., using “pen and paper.”
Further, endoscopes are currently being stored in unlocked cabinets, which are often left open, and in some cases, positioned in the middle of a high-traffic hallway. This represents a contamination issue, a potential damage issue, a potential theft/loss issue, a tracking issue, etc. According to the prior art, endoscopes are routinely returned from procedure rooms if not used during the procedure, and simply re-hung in the cabinet. However, there exists no control in place to prevent “dirty” endoscopes from potentially cross-contaminating the entire cabinet.
In addition, compliance monitoring, decontamination (cleaning) and disinfection protocols are entirely manual, and time-based measures of workforce efficiencies are virtually nonexistent. Another issue arises when endoscopes are borrowed by other departments, and are subsequently lost or misplaced. Accordingly, such endoscopes are not available when required by the appropriate personnel. In addition, the hospitals must then assign individuals to spend time locating these expensive instruments. Since the sign-out procedures are normally manual, users may forget to sign-out the equipment according to the procedure.
The repair costs associated with an endoscope is very high, and on some occasions, individual endoscopes can be “lemons” and require additional repair (with the associated costs). Some doctors report damage often, which will trigger excessive repair costs. Presently, there is no way of tracing if a specific individual is the common factor in multiple damage endoscopes. Still further, there is no effective process to identify and track loaner scopes, and little data is available to the managers of any “Continuous Improvement” process, i.e., there is no way of knowing if an endoscope scope has been lost. Presently, recordkeeping directed to these endoscopes is manual and time-intensive.
Preventive maintenance of these endoscopes is often ad-hoc at times, and existing systems are often not integrated into the process to manage and tune preventative maintenance cycles and activities. Additionally, while endoscopes do have individual and unique serial numbers, trying to locate this number amongst a tangled jumble of insertion tubes and umbilical cables is extremely difficult, and since endoscope pools are not load-rotated, the scopes in front get used more often, etc.
Accordingly, such prior art storage, tracking, and inventory management systems are ineffective and/or inefficient in monitoring, tracking and communicating information directed to specified equipment, e.g., an endoscope or the like.